


maybe you already know?

by April (featherx)



Series: but in the end I will always come back to you [13]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 06:12:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10610931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/featherx/pseuds/April
Summary: Junmyeon and company run into a couple of newbie idols. (Idol AU)





	

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to C for this idea and K for helping with characterization!

“—I mean, look at this. _From My Heart to Yours_ , by, um—” Chanyeol squints at the screen, and then, in a very disturbed voice, “ _blackheartgirlXOXO_. I’d say ‘noted’ or something, but I kind of want to read it now. Wait, can I read the summary out loud?”

“No,” Junmyeon answers. He closes his phone anyway, because he has a feeling this is going to be an interesting couple of minutes with Chanyeol on a fanfiction site, whatever fanfiction even _is_. Apparently, it had something to do with taking characters and writing stories about them. Normally he’d be fine with that, nor would he really even care about its existence, but according to Chanyeol, “real person fiction” seemed to be a sub-category of fanfiction.

Chanyeol looks traumatized after a few seconds to read. “Right. Listen really, really closely, okay? _Chesqa had wanted a normal life, with her stable job and her perfect boyfriend, Kyungsoo. But one day, she runs into a biker gang and feels her heart beat hard for the leader, Chanyeol. His smile makes her ask herself a question – is her life really the way she wants it to be, or is she only lying to herself?_ Now my first question is, why in God’s name are they putting _my_ Chesqa with Soo?”

Junmyeon peers over Chanyeol’s shoulder to look at the computer screen. He’s opened a new tab for _From My Heart to Yours_ anyway, and he’s scrolling through the rest of the list while waiting for it to load. “So this Chesqa’s _yours_ now?”

“We’re _meant to be_. You don’t understand.” Chanyeol gasps dramatically. “Is that your _name_ I see, Myeoni? Ooh! And it’s with that _Max_ girl! Chesqa’s band mate, the vocal on the guitar! Didn’t you say you like her when we saw their music video the other day?”

“ _Why_ do you remember that?”

“Because I’m _me_ , Myeoni.” Chanyeol leans a little closer to read the small blurb for the work. Junmyeon finds himself leaning in, too, but only out of curiosity, not because he actually endorses any of this. Probably. “Wow. _Only You_ , by _dragoness7810_. What’s an ‘Alpha-slash-Omega?’ Actually, what’s an ‘AU?’ I feel like I should know these terms?”

Shrugging, Junmyeon skims over the short description written with some truly atrocious grammar. Then when he actually manages to process what the description is about, he seizes the mouse and opens the tab for _From My Heart to Yours_ , much to Chanyeol’s surprise. “What, do you really want to read about my true love with Chesqa?”

“No, uh—” Junmyeon coughs, trying to erase the words _in heat_ and _mating_ out of his head. He barely even _knows_ Max Robinson, except for the fact that she’s in one of the new girl groups with the Chesqa girl Chanyeol likes so much and a couple other girls her age. And she plays the guitar, her voice is low, she likes the color orange, her ideal guy is taller than her and likes to sing… “Anyway,” Junmyeon says, interrupting his thought process before it gets any worse, “why don’t we, ah. Enlighten ourselves with this… work?”

“They call these _fics_ for short,” Chanyeol informs him mildly, scrolling past the brief author’s note and skipping to the contents of the first chapter. Then he starts squealing. “Read this, read this! _Chesqa sighed and_ —”

“I’m not having you read _real person fiction_ out loud to me, Yeol,” Junmyeon says quickly, already knowing where this is going. He strides over to the door quickly, shrugging on a coat at the same time, and says, “I’m going out with Sehun and Baekhyun to that new café – do you want anything?”

“Peace and quiet, and a take-out of hot chocolate,” Chanyeol says, sighing and leaning back in his seat. “I’ll need something to drink while reading so I can spit it out on my screen at all the right places.”

“I don’t think that’s how reading works, actually?”

“Shh. Go off to your café, Myeoni. I’m _busy_.”

* * *

The café is still in the process of cleaning up a little bit, but as far as Junmyeon’s concerned, their milkshakes are good and that’s enough for him. Sehun is recounting a story to Baekhyun, but Junmyeon is craning his neck to look up at a television mounted on the wall. The music video of that Max’s group is playing, their debut song that he can’t quite remember the name of.

“O- _ho_ , so Myeoni’s interested in them, are you?” Sehun suddenly remarks, turning a little in his seat to look up at the TV. He whistles lowly. “Riiight, I remember! The guitarist – Max, her name is, isn’t it?”

Baekhyun almost looks like he’s going to giggle like a little girl. “Look, he’s blushing. Well, in fairness, they _are_ a pretty good group, for newbies. Aren’t a lot of them also actresses?”

“Yeol’s crazy for the leader, though. Do you hear him when their songs come on? Chesqa this, Chesqa that, I feel like I know enough to write her biography when I haven’t even _talked_ to her.”

Junmyeon’s about to reply, but the words die in his throat when the café doors open with a jingle and two girls step in. One of them immediately cringes away from the television, while the other, with fluffed-up black hair and the purest smile in the world, chatters on and points excitably at the screen. “Come on, Chesqa, don’t be so _embarrassed_ , everyone likes us!”

“I forgot two lines there and I think you can see up my nostril in one frame, how can I _not_ be embarrassed?”

“Wow, wow,” Sehun says lowly, casting a glance behind him while sipping his drink. “So this café’s getting popular with us idols now? Myeoni, why don’t you go say hi so Yeol can brutally murder you for stealing the love of his life?”

“Last time I checked, it was Soo who did that,” Junmyeon replies absently, trying not to make his staring too obvious. It’s obvious that the girls’ faces aren’t too modified by plastic surgery, especially in person, and while Junmyeon acknowledges Chesqa’s styled hair and the sunglasses perched atop her forehead, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to the other girl, who’s obviously Max. She has a funny-looking orange scarf on, which really just makes her look even _cuter_ , even though the scarf is bright enough to cure the blind or something. Mostly, Junmyeon thinks it brings out the even brighter sparkle in her eyes.

Baekhyun gives Junmyeon a Look, as in, capital “L.” “My _goodness_ , would you look at his face,” he exclaims, like it’s this big scandal and it’s his national duty to inform the world about it, if the volume of his voice is any indication. “ _Smitten_ to _death!_ And you’ve seen her for, ah, Sehunnie, help me out with this bit of math – five minutes, right?”

“Wrong, Baek, it’s only been a minute since they came in,” Sehun corrects, pretending to check his nails while really trying to sneak a couple of glances at the girls. They’re ordering at the counter at the moment, Chesqa looking bored while Max takes her time picking. “Ooh. Should we invite them over? Look, there aren’t any open tables left.”

Junmyeon almost chokes on his milkshake, even though it’s almost empty. “You’re not—”

“Well, _you’re not_ going to let them sit with some creepy old pedophile like that one over there, right?” Baekhyun asks, jerking his head to the table a few ways away from them, housing a man hunched over on his sandwich and admittedly looking a little creepy with the way his eyes are fixed on the two girls. Baekhyun nods self-importantly when he sees Junmyeon wince a bit. “I thought so. I am right about a hundred and one percent of the time, after all.” He waits until the girls are looking around for a free table, ignoring Junmyeon’s weak protests, when he raises his hand and calls, “Hey! You two wanna sit here?”

Chesqa’s lip quirks downwards for the slightest of seconds before she quickly replies with, “Oh, um – I guess it’s fine, but—”

“Sure!” Max interrupts, stepping forward with a beautiful smile and what looks like zero sense of self-preservation. “Thanks for having us. We shouldn’t take too long,” she says cheerily, glancing at Junmyeon as she takes a seat beside, of all people, him. Junmyeon manages to smile, although he wouldn’t be surprised if it looks more like a pained grimace. Then her gaze moves on to the other two boys as Chesqa takes a hesitant seat next to Sehun. “Nice to meet you,” Max says, after a while.

“You, too,” Baekhyun says back. They seem to be matching each other smile for smile, while Junmyeon and Sehun exchange a look. “So you’re two of the girls from that group, right?” He points at the music video, which has just ended and is moving on to a different one.

Max blinks, looking almost surprised he knows, but brightens immediately. “Yeah, yeah! Chesqa’s the leader, and I do guitar sometimes.” She grins and looks around, surveying the boys’ faces before her jaw drops a little. “Oh, wait. Aren’t you guys…”

“Did you just notice now?” Chesqa asks lowly. Max only smiles brighter, and decides not to respond to her friend. Junmyeon finds himself smiling fondly, which he hastily tries to hide, but ultimately fails, because – well, he just can’t. This probably isn’t healthy. When Chesqa sees that all (or at least most) eyes are on her, she brings up a cordial smile and nods as a late greeting. “Ah. Um, it’s nice to meet you all. We were just taking a break from our rehearsals…”

“Although, it’s hard to get around and not get recognized now,” Max muses, leaning back in her seat a little and subsequently brushing her elbow against Junmyeon’s. Junmyeon’s smile becomes a tad strained as he resists the urge to jerk away, and nearly screams when Max only spares him a look and returns to her drink, not removing her arm. So now their skin is touching, and Junmyeon has no idea whether he wants to go home right this instant or stay in this moment forever.

“It gets worse the more popular you get, you know? A big orange scarf might not be enough next time,” Baekhyun teases lightly. Max laughs and fiddles with the ends of her scarf. It really is an atrociously bright orange, Junmyeon notes. “We’re from _EXO_ , by the way, in case you didn’t already notice. If you need any tips, we’re right here.”

Max, unexpectedly enough, looks up at Junmyeon, who’d been watching Sehun and Chesqa exchange awkward small talk. “Then you’re the leader, aren’t you? Kim Junmyeon?” She asks lightly, sipping her drink. From the corner of his eye, Junmyeon can see Baekhyun lean back, smirk, and bask in his non-existent victory.

“Oh – yeah, that’s me. Flattered you know,” he says, trying not to sound too short. Is it just him, or is it suddenly a little hot in the café? Is it their air conditioning malfunctioning? Then again, it is a fairly new café – and maybe he really needs to stop mentally rambling and focus on actual, verbal conversations. Max is still smiling, looking pleased as Junmyeon says, “And you’re – Max… something? From the new girl group.”

“Max Robinson, at your service,” Max introduces gladly, lowering her gaze for a moment before looking back up at him again, eyes twinkling. _That’s been three glances now, right?_ Junmyeon notes in his head. _Isn’t that the average number of glances to ‘send a signal’ when you’re flirting? – Or am I just being weird again?_ “Hmm, senior idols… I’d ask for tips, but Chesqa’s already got connections in your band. That Chanyeol—”

Baekhyun coughs in some failed attempt to hide a smile. Max gives him an odd, but amused, look, then continues. “They bump into each other a lot, actually. I think he has Chesqa’s number, but he’s never called, which is funny, because in person, he doesn’t stop talking.”

“Knowing Yeol, he’s probably too scared to call,” Junmyeon says offhandedly, trying not to notice really weird details like the way the fluorescent café lights glints off Max’s face like some kind of incredibly unplanned-for spotlight. Junmyeon likes it anyway, even if the spotlight’s quality could probably use some work. Certainly it’s not good enough for its model.

Max laughs, and it sounds like a choir of angels. “Well, if I gave you my number, would you get scared?”

“You don’t _seem_ scary.”

“Neither are you, Kim Junmyeon.” Max scrawls her number on a napkin lazily, and hands it to Junmyeon with a little smile that makes him hope her number 1s don’t look like 7s and vice versa. “You’ll want to use that, right?”

Junmyeon takes the napkin and folds it neatly before slipping it in his coat pocket. “I’ll try. And I’ll put in a word to Yeol, too, I guess,” he adds lamely, trying not to look too excited and resisting the very, very strong urge to fish his phone out and type in her number right away. “Do you want mine?” He offers, after Max fixes him with a look in her eyes that (he’s gonna go out on a limb on this) feels like a strange sort of fondness.

“Nope,” Max replies easily, popping the ‘p,’ “but thanks. Anyway, when you call, I’ll have it then, so you better call.” She finishes her drink and pushes it back a little, glancing at Chesqa, who’s deep in conversation with Sehun as she discusses something with him over a piece of paper that looks suspiciously like stage blocking. “Hey, are you done?”

“You two aren’t, are you?” Chesqa replies neutrally, looking between her and Junmyeon. Max laughs, and Junmyeon does the same politely, even though he’s really just sweating buckets and trying not to think about how Max doesn’t seem _adverse_ to the idea of them being, “you two.” But Chesqa nods and folds the paper back up, tucking it in some random pocket and smiling at the boys again. “Thanks for sharing the table – and for your tips. It’s been nice meeting you.”

“Thanks in advance for that call,” Max says, before skipping off with Chesqa out the café doors and not giving Junmyeon any time to process her words.

As soon as the doors close, Sehun slumps a little and Baekhyun bursts into disturbing laughter. It really is disturbing, considering the neighboring table shoots them a strange look. “The look on your face when she gave you her number – _oh, my God_ , this should be a national holiday now or something. Junmyeon Gets a Girl’s Number Day.”

“Do you ever stop talking?” Junmyeon asks wearily.

“Have you met him at all?” Sehun retorts, because Baekhyun’s too caught up laughing to answer. Junmyeon concedes to that point.

* * *

“Myeoni, I’d just like to say that Soo does _not_ treat Chesqa well, at all!” Chanyeol explodes, as soon as Junmyeon returns to his room. As expected, Chanyeol hadn’t moved from his position in front of the computer. “I mean, _flowers?_ Why would you give her _flowers?_ Clearly you should give her something like throat lozenge, she probably hurts her throat from singing so much!”

“I don’t know, her voice is pretty nice, isn’t it?” Junmyeon responds, setting Chanyeol’s hot chocolate down next to the computer. Chanyeol reaches for it, barely manages to not spill everything on the keyboard, and chugs almost half of it down without breaking a sweat. “By the way, you have her number, don’t you? Why don’t you ever call her? I hear she gets tired waiting for you.”

Chanyeol sighs deeply. “Oh, Myeoni, you don’t understand. I’ve gotta wait at least another few—” Then, a very heavy pause. “What did you just say?”

Junmyeon takes three long strides to cross the room and exit quickly. “I’m going to go call Max now,” he says pleasantly, “so that she doesn’t end up hating me for never calling her. Goodbye, Yeol!”


End file.
